Re: I read the Wall Street Journal so you don't have to

[Chuckigo@aol.com]

In a message dated 04/12/2000 6:37:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
lglavin@lycosmail.com writes:
    from the NY Times
<< An officer of  Empower Media was quoted at saying that radio was so 
 hot last year with dot-coms and technology firms 
 spending freely that stations added commercials while
 decreasing programming. >>

   notwithstanding the particular formats which may or may not have 
benefitted from the "glut" of dot-com spots, the addition of units has often 
been utilized in times of potential advertising prosperity.  remember not so 
long ago that a typical am drive on a full service am such as WHDH, WBZ or 
even WGAN boasted an average of 18 minutes/units per hour.  the only 
concession that sales was willing to "usually" make was that the number 18 
was the mark; whether it was 60, 30 or 15, it was still a unit.
   with that in mind, off the AP this evening, dateline Cambridge:
(i'll paraphrase)  top consulting group predicts "MOST" online retailers will 
be out of the business by next year.
  the group, Forerester Research, says e-tailers are getting whacked by price 
competition from conventional retail outlets making their wares 
web-available, and the fact that their venture capital is drying up.
   the larger electronic sellers should remain fine, but the it's smaller, 
niche sites that will slowly dwindle.

    this little development on the net will greatly affect the number of 
potential money spending clients to which radio, tv, and print look for ad 
revenue.  it may be considered "clutter" (as was mentioned in the Times 
article), but for the moment, it's paying the freight, regardless of format. 
   Skip Hoy, son of F.Parker Hoy (one of Maine's original solo radio owners), 
once told me that unlike a gross of washing machines, you can not put a 
"minute" on the shelf to sell next week, next month or beyond.  if someone 
wanted to "buy" that minute today, then the minute was sold and filled 
"today".  for the radio purist, who enjoys listening to extended, 
uninterrupted programming on a favorite station, the quantity affects the 
quality.  (this sentiment is shared by just about every person who works on 
the programming side of this business as well, for what it's worth).  but the 
business is just that, a business, and if somebody wants to buy the minute, 
especially when their own window of opportunity is narrowing, then someone in 
advertising will sell them that minute.  

- -Chuck Igo